World Bank Grants $745m to Healthcare, Flood Projects

Dec 17 , 2022


[ssba-buttons]

Women, children and internally displaced people facing the consequences of the pandemic, natural disasters and conflicts without access to health services and flood management are getting assistance. The World Bank has approved a 745 million dollar grant with hopes of alleviating the humanitarian crisis. Nearly one million people were affected by flood in 2020, with almost 300,000 displaced and 288 lost lives. The damages to infrastructure and cropland have cost 358 million dollars to repair. The impact on agriculture and livestock has aggravated the already severe crisis. The project that aims to support primary healthcare projects is financed through a 400 million dollar grant from the International Development Association (IDA) and a 45 million dollar grant from the Global Financing Facility (GFF). The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps developing countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth. World Bank Group Country Director, Ousmane Dione, said the health project would provide to over 22 million women and children, including those in conflict-affected areas. The second Flood Management Project (FMP), financed by a 300 million dollar grant from IDA, aims towards improving climate-related shock management and the ability to respond better to flood risks.


Radar

US Renews National Emergency, Sanctions on Ethiopia

The United States has extended the national emergency and sanctions on Ethiopia for another year under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). Signed by President Donald J. Trump, the measure was first declared on September 17, 2021, through an executive order citing the conflict in northern region of the country as an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The extension, effective until September 17, 2026, keeps in place restrictions targeti...


Radar

Rockefeller Pitches Clean Cooking to Curb School Meal Emissions

A recent study has revealed the staggering environmental toll of school feeding programs. A single school serving 400 students can burn through the equivalent of 56 hectares of forest each year to fuel cooking. The Rockefeller Foundation flagged the health risks too, with most cooks, predominantly women, breathing smoke levels ten times higher than the World Health Organisation's safe limit. "If every school meal transitioned to clean cooking with electricity and solar, the emissions saved wo...


Radar

Sun-Powered Grid Brings Light to Qunbi District

A new 600KW solar mini-grid in East Hararge'sQunbi district has connected 2,200 households to electricity, marking a milestone in the recent rural electrification push. Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) laid seven kilometres of medium-voltage and 10 kilometres of low-voltage lines, installing four transformers to reach communities long cut off from power. Customers cover only meter and installation costs before accessing the service. The project is part of the national strategy to expand energ...